Bottle carrier



R. GUYER BOTTLE CARRIER July 7, 1953.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 5, 1948 Arromqz July 7,1953 I R. GUYER 2,644,624

BOTTLE CARRIER Filed Aug. 5', 1948 2 Sheets-sheaf 2 I l I I I I I I I I I i 3 36' 34% 32% 39 Arronwgd Patented July 7, 1953 7 2,644,624 BOTTLE omitmn Reynolds Guyer, St. Paul, assignor to Waldorf Paper Products Company, St. Paul, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota 7 f Application August 5, 1948, Serial No. 42,660

My invention relates to an improvement in bottle carrier wherein it is desired to provide a simple and convenient device for carrying a series of bottles.

In recent years it has become increasingly popular to place a series of bottles of a beverage or the like into a suitable carrier for convenience in handling. These carriers have been of various shapes and designs. In order to be practical such carriers must be sufliciently strong to withstand the weight of the bottles even when the paper forming the carrier is wet. Preferably the carriers must be so designed as to receive bottles delivered from an automatic loading device.

Furthermore the carriers must be extremely low in cost as they are usually given free with the sale of thebottles.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a bottle carrier which is a combination of wire and paper. My carrier is simple in construction and in design, and possesses the necessary features above described. The carrier may be made at low cost and has the decided ad vantage that the paper portion of the carrier may be replaced when desired at a fraction of the original cost of the carrier.

A feature of the present invention lies in the provision of a carrier having an encircling frame provided with a handle and a paper body supported by the frame. The paper body comprises merely a strip of paper board folded to produce a U-shaped body which may be suspended from the frame. As a result the structure is extremely inexpensive and at the same time .is stronger than any paper carrier with which I am familiar.

A feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a carrier having a U-shaped paper. body suspended from opposite sides of a supporting frame. The paper body is looped over the opposite sides of the wire carrier and is capable of supporting considerable weight even when the paper is damp. I

An added feature of the present invention lies in the provision of a carrier having a rectangular framewhich may slide vertically within limits within the sides of the frame. As a result the handle on the wire frame may be elevated above the level of the bottles supported for carrying the bottles and at the same time the handle may be lowered below the level of the bottles carried so that the carriers may be stacked one upon the other.

These and other objects and novel features of my invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims.

6 Claims. (Cl. 224-48) 2 In the drawings forming. a part of my speci v fication: I I Figure 1 is a perspective view ofmy carrier showing the general construction thereof. Y

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view through the carrier showing the manner in which the sides of the carrier are locked together.

' carrier showing the manner in which the side walls may be stitched together if desired. The carrier. A illustrated in the drawings includes a wire frame indicated in general by .the

' numeral Ill and a paperboard body indicated in general by thenumeral ll. The two parts of the carrier are assembled together and are detachably connected so that the paper body may. if desired, be removed and replaced.

The carrier frame includes a generally rec-. tangular wire body having substantially parallel ends [2 and I3. and substantially parallel sides 14 and I5. Rounded or angularly extending corners l6 are provided between each side andthe adjacent end. The rectangular frame is usually formed of an elongated wire rod, the end ll of which are welded or otherwise connected together. "Q

An inverted U-shaped handle I9 is welded or otherwise connected centrally to the ends I2 and I3 of the wire loop. The'U-shaped-handle I0 I includes upwardly andinwardly inclined'end wall panel 3! is connected tothe panel2l along a fold line 32." The fold lines 30 and .32 are parallel'to the fold lines" 24 and 25. j V. P

A pair of spaced'cut" lines 33 and 34 are pros vided in the bottom panel 23 slightlyoff-set from;

the score line 25 and connected thereto at, the

ends of thecut lines." In other words, the out lines 33 and 34 are in reality U-shaped in form with the sides of the U extremely short.

bottom pane1'23 slightly off set from the fold .line. 24. The, ends of the cut lines 35 and13li are 7 A Si.n 1-v ilar pair of outlines 35 and 36 are provided inthe r 3 bent to join the score line 24. As a result when the side wall panels 26 and 21 are folded upwardly small narrow slots or recesses are provided in the bottom panel 23 closely adjacent the side walls 26 and 21.

The inner side wall panel 3| is provided with a pair of projecting lips 31 and 39 which are longitudinally aligned in the blank with the cut lines 33 and 34. The inner wall panel 3| is of approximately equal length to the outer side wall panel 21 so that the lips 31 and 39 extend into the slots formed by the cut lines 33 and 34 when the side wall panels 21 and 3| are folded intocontacting relation. The ears 31 and'39 project through the slots in the bottom'panel a distance sufficient to prevent unfolding. of the inner side and a new paper body may be quickly attached to the frame.

wall 3| when the two walls are folded together.

A pair of ears 40 and 4| are provided on the free end of the wall panel 29. These ears 4!) and 4| are aligned with the cut lines 35 and 36 adjacent the fold line 24. As'a result when theinner wall panel 29 is folded into substantiallyparallel relation against the outer wall panel 25, the ears 4!) and 4| may project through the slots in the bottom panel 23 formed by the cut lines 35 and 36. These ears 4t and 4| prevent the unfolding of the panel 29 about the fold line 30,

"'A'p'air of opposed-notches 42 and 43 are'prcvided at opposite ends of the inner side wall panel 29; thesehotches extending from the fold line 30 to a point intermediate the top and bottom edges of the wall panel 29. The notches A2 and d3 terminate in rounded ends 4 and 45 for a purpose that will be later described. The edges of the outerwall panel 26 adjoining the fold line 38 are rounded as indicated at 4-6 and 41 to improve the appearance of the carrier and also to eliminate a projecting square corner'along the top edges of the side wall.

The inner side wall 3| is provided with a pair of notches 49 and 53 which extend from the fold line 32 to a point mid-way between the fold line 32 and the free edge of the panel 3|. The notches 49 and5|l terminate in rounded shoulders 5| and 52 which act as a support for the wire frame in one position as will be later described in detail. The edges of the panel 21 adjoining thefold line 32 are rounded as indicated at 53 and 54;

It will be noted that the ends l2 and |3 of the rectangular wire frame iii are spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the length of the bottom'pa-nel 23 ofthe'ca'rrier The diagonally extending connecting portions l5 between the end wall ends, the sides of the wireframe shorten the length of the sides M and i5. The notches '42, 43, 49 and 58 are spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the length of the sides l4 and I5 of the frame as indicated in Figure l of the draw.- ings. 'As a result the rounded lower ends 44', 35, 5| and 52 of these notches act to support the rectangular frame when the frame is forced downwardly into'retracted position illustrated in dotted outline in Figure 1 of the drawings.

Thehandle I0 is so proportionedrelative to the bottles carried that when the handle is inretracteol position illustrated in dotted outlinein Figure l, the connecting member 22 of the handle is flush with, or slightly below, the surface of the bottle tops. As a result the handle does not interfere with the stacking of the carriers or the placing of one carrier upon the other. At the same time 'the connecting member 22 may be readily grasped and drawn upwardly so that it ex tends substantially above'thetops ofthe bottles being carried when in the position shown in full lines in Figure 1.

My carrier has been found to possess many features which are of importance in a device of this type. The wire frames are relatively permanent in character and while they can be produced for a low cost, they are not easily bent or damaged. As a result the wire frames will last indefinitely for their intended purpose.

The paper board body is also strong in character and can withstand unusual strain even when wet, because of the fact that the body is merely an elongated strip of paper board. However, when the:paper body becomes soiled or torn, the body may be quickly removed from the wire frame Bottle carriers formed entirely of paper require considerably more paper than the present carrier. At the same time such paper carriers usually will not last as long. as the: paper body of the, present'carrie'r in view of the numerouscut and score lines found in carriers of the usual types. Thus the replacement of the bodies on the wire frames may be made at a fraction of the cost of a new carriermade entirely of paper. .As a result the carriers are extremely economical in use. Once the carrierframes have been purchased, the paper bodies may be purchased at a fraction of the cost of most paper carriers."

The assembly of my carrier is extremely simple,

and when once formed, tends to remain in assernbled form. Even if the projecting ears on the inner side walls become disengaged from their respective slots in the bottom panel, the bottles in the carrier prevent the inner side walls from unfolding, thereby rendering the carrier virtually foolproof in operation. If amore permanent construction is desired, the inner and outer side walls may be stitched or stapled together'with wire staples such as 55 in, Figure 50f the drawings, although such stitching is'usually not necessary in holding the body assembled.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of my bottle-carrier, and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that obvious changes may be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Iclaimz; v

"1. A ,j-bottle carrier including a generally rectangular frame; a handle connecting opposite endsgpf said frame; aipaperboard body connect ing opposite sidesof said frame, .said paperboard body including a pairof generally parallel side walls and-a bottom panel connectedthereto, and inner side walls foldably connected to the upper edgesof 'saidfirstnamed side walls and folded to enclosethe sides of the frame; and notchesqat opposite ends of said side walls through which i connected'to said outer side wall panels and fold able inwardly of said outer side wall panels to enclose the sides of the frame, and notches in the ends of said inner side wall panels through which said diagonal portions of said frame extend.

3. The structure described in claim 2 in which the notches define shoulders upon which the diagonal portions of the frame may rest.

4. A bottle carrier including a generally rec'- tangular frame, a handle connecting opposite sides of said frame, a paper board body supported by opposite sides of said frame, said paper board body including a pair of generally parallel side walls and a bottom panel hingedly connected thereto, side wall panels foldably connected to the upper edge of the first named side walls and foldable into generally parallel relation with the first named side walls to enclose opposite sides of said frame between each connected pair of side walls, the inner side wall of each pair having notches at opposite ends thereof through which the ends of the frame extend, said notches defining shoulders for limiting slidable movement of the frame References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATESPATENTS Number Name Date 1,411,678 Walker Apr. l, 1922 1,411,695 Hackett Apr. 4, 1922 2,160,183 We1tmer' May 30, 1939 2,436,271 Simmons Feb.'17, 1948 2,518,818 Ringler Aug. 15, 1950 

